The real market for political parties is defined by major investors, who generally have good and clear reason for investing to control the state...Blocs of major investors define the core of political parties and are responsible for most of the signals the party sends to the electorate.
In such investor-driven systems, the meaning of political competition is very different from its analogue in classical democratic theory: political parties dominated by large investors try to assemble the votes they need by making very limited appeals to particular segment of the potential electorate. If it pays some other bloc of major investors to advertise and mobilize, these appeals can be vigorously contested, but...on all issues affecting the vital interests that major investors have in common, no party competition will take place. Instead, all that will occur will be a proliferation of marginal appeals to voters - and if all major investors happen to share an interest in ignoring issues vital to the electors, such as social welfare, hours of work, or collective bargaining, so much the worse for the electorate. Unless significant portions of it are prepared to try to become major investors in their own right, through a substantial expenditure of time and (limited) income, there is nothing any group of voters can do to offset this collective investor dominance.
Political parties should thus be analyzed as blocs of major investors who coalesce to advance candidates presenting their interests. Differing blocks form within the business community for a number of different reasons and often along certain lines.
